FOR decades it has dominated the cityscape – St James’ Park has been one of Newcastle’s most recognisable landmarks since the 19th Century.

FOR decades it has dominated the cityscape – St James’ Park has been one of Newcastle’s most recognisable landmarks since the 19th Century.

Newcastle United’s home is the oldest football stadium in the North East but it has been transformed over the years.

Originally, a rough patch of grazing land, the club made a big effort to develop it after Newcastle United's promotion to the First Division in 1898.

Over the following years, the ground’s pitch was levelled and re-laid, terraces were formed and new stands at the Gallowgate end and the Barrack Road side of the ground were erected.

Despite, the club’s attempts to modernise its grounds being rejected by the council until the 1970s, fans still turned out in their thousands to watch their team play.

William Messer, was one such fan as he has fond memories of seeing the Toon play during the late 1950s and early 1960s as a young boy, then as a teenager.

He remembers there being no cover to the east stand or Gallowgate, and only a ‘shed’ over the Leazes End enclosure.

It was also all standing in the Leazes End and always packed, so children were passed over people's heads. William distinctly remembers sitting on a low wall, which went round the pitch, giving him a great view of the game.

Another major difference at this time were the footballs, they used to be leather and were very heavy. They even got heavier as the season progressed due to the muddy winter pitches.

He can also remember the half-time scoreboard in the Gallowgate, but recollects that you needed to have the match’s programme to work out who the scores referred to.

During this time, all the matches started at 3pm on a Saturday and with no added minutes they more or less finished together. Half-time was only ten minutes long and William remembers that apart from going to get a cup of Bovril or using the open air urinals, fans spent half-time watching marching bands and police dogs doing shows.

The crowd used to start drifting with 10 minutes to go as the 10-minute flag in the east Gallowgate came down whereas today the majority of fans remain seated until the final whistle.

In winter, the club used to appeal for fans to come and shift snow from the pitch so that matches could go ahead. Were you one of them?

Whilst watching the Toon play, William remembers buying peanuts from a father and son, who sold them in paper twists from a hand barrow. They would walk around the perimeter of the pitch and people would throw their money down and they threw the packets up into the crowd.

What are your memories of St James’ Park? We'd love to hear your stories of seeing the Toon play from years gone by.

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